


you set fire to my atmosphere

by soundslikehope



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, F/F, Maleficent AU, and a decent array of tropes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-06
Updated: 2019-01-06
Packaged: 2019-10-05 07:09:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17320340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soundslikehope/pseuds/soundslikehope
Summary: Queen Regina learned long ago that unless you’re crashing their wedding to curse their unborn child, humans should be avoided at all costs. So when a hopelessly lost, strangely dressed woman invites herself into Regina’s castle to escape a storm, Regina wants her gone. At least, she does until she realizes who her unwanted guest actually is: her worst enemy's daughter, whom she cursed to fall into an eternal slumber on her 28th birthday… a birthday that’s less than a month away.(An AU of the movieMaleficent,now starring Swan Queen.)





	you set fire to my atmosphere

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lylaslegend](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lylaslegend/gifts).



> This fic is a horribly belated Secret Santa gift for Bea! I'm so terribly sorry that this is late and not even close to finished. December was unexpectedly rough for me, so I didn't have much time to get any writing done. Still, I loved your prompt for a Maleficent AU and wanted to do it justice. I tweaked the storyline quite a bit, so it may not be exactly what you expect, but I did try to fit some of your favourite tropes in here. So I hope you like it anyway!
> 
> Title is from “Wake Up” by Eden.

Princess Snow never expected to have a perfect wedding. For an affair thrown on such short notice, with so many people from different social classes intermingling, and all of it overseen by a king who openly disapproved of the marriage, she knew better than to expect all her childhood dreams to come true. She had steeled herself to cope with any mishaps well before the ceremony began, telling herself over and over it did not matter as long as she could be with the man she loved.

Surprisingly, by the time she reached her vows, nothing had gone awry. The last-minute decorations had gone over well, the guests were perfectly polite, and her father was even smiling faintly. As the minister said his final words and Snow leaned in to kiss her husband, she smiled and finally let go of her fears, ready to begin the next phase of her life with nothing but hope and happiness.

That was a mistake.

Just before her lips touched David’s, the doors to the hall burst open. Snow whirled around, prepared to greet an extremely late guest, one of her father’s enemies, or even an extremely wayward ogre.

She was not prepared to see... a ghost?

Snow blinked, certain she was seeing things. The woman in the entranceway looked solid, but she simply could not be alive; Snow knew that. However, that certainty did nothing to stop the shiver that ran down her spine or the cold that sank into her bones.

Even when she was alive, Regina had never dressed this way—all in black, from her pointed headdress to her stiletto heels. The only colour in her outfit was the red feathers stitched into her cape, which trailed behind her on the ground. The lines of her outfit were sharp and unforgiving, matching her harsh makeup and extravagant hairstyle. The most startling aspect of her appearance, however, was not her outfit, her hair, or her makeup. It was her cruel smile and the lack of warmth in her eyes.

“Sorry I’m late.”

Regina's voice was low, almost sultry, but strong enough that her words echoed through the hall. Candles flickered behind her in a way that meant powerful magic was close by. Several peasants gasped, but other than that, the room was paralyzed with terror.

No. Not a ghost. However impossible it seemed, Regina was very much alive.

But _how?_ She shouldn’t have been able to stand, let alone walk, yet she advanced through the aisle with the ease of a wolf stalking her prey. The only signs of what she had been through were the way she slightly favoured her right side and the hint of pain in her eyes.

Snow knew she needed to do _something_. It was what her future subjects expected from her; it was what they deserved from her. Still, she found herself unable to move as a myriad of emotions swept through her—anger, shock, confusion, grief.

Guilt.

“You are not welcome here,” David said in his most authoritative tone. “You were not invited.” He put his arm in front of Snow, and despite the circumstances, affection swept through her. _That gallant idiot._

Regina clasped a hand to her chest, her eyes widening dramatically. “But Snow, dear, I’m your oldest friend.”

A knight from a neighbouring kingdom blocked Regina's path. With an airy wave of her hand, she flung him to the other side of the hall. He landed with a _thud;_ Snow thought she could hear the cracking of bones from across the otherwise silent room.

“Although,” Regina drawled, “I suppose you had reason to believe that I would not be up for the occasion.”

Eyes fixed on the knight lying crumpled on the floor, Snow shook herself. She had a responsibility towards these people. She could not cower like a scared child. “Why are you here, Regina?” she asked, forcing her voice not to tremble. “Do you wish to pay your respects?”

Regina scoffed, visibly offended. “Hardly. I came to give you a gift.”

“We want nothing from you,” David said firmly.

“I see your guests have also brought gifts.” Regina strode over to a long table at the side of the room, stacked with beautifully wrapped presents. She picked up a small gold box and pointed to it. A stream of purple magic emanated from her finger and enveloped the gift, then faded away as quickly as it had appeared. Regina wrinkled her nose. “Perfume. Don’t you have enough of that?”

She tossed it on a pile and pointed her magic at another gift, this one larger and wrapped in royal blue. “Chocolates. Twenty-eight different varieties. Do try to avoid the coconut ones, unless you’d like your subjects to see your pretty face covered in hives.”

Regina rolled her eyes and pointed to a box so large it was sitting on the floor. This time, she laughed outright—a cold, mocking sound. “A golden spinning wheel. As though you’ll ever have to spin anything.”

She turned to Snow, exasperation and fury written on her face in equal measure. “This is what you wanted? _This_ is what you fought so hard for?”

Snow wanted to protest that she never asked for any of these gifts. She only ever wanted love and happiness and all the things any other girl wants. However, the words died on her lips as she faced the stark disapproval in Regina’s eyes. It was a look that suggested she had expected better of Snow and been let down. It was a more familiar look than Snow wanted to admit.

Regina swept an arm through the piles of gifts, knocking them all to the floor. “These gifts are useless,” she said, prowling towards Snow again. “Luckily for you, _my_ gift is far better.”

“You cannot harm us,” Snow said, trying to sound confident. “Rumplestiltskin saw to that.”

“Don’t flatter yourself, dear. It’s not meant for you.”

The words were no comfort, especially when Regina’s gaze dropped to Snow’s stomach. “What do you mean?” Snow asked, forcing the words out despite the sudden knot in her throat.

Regina smiled, a wide feral grin. “Why, it’s for your unborn child, of course.”

If it hadn’t been for David clutching her arm, Snow would have fallen to the floor. As it was, she swayed precariously. Regina’s smile grew at the sight.

This could not be happening. Regina should be dead, not alive and threatening her baby. She was having a nightmare; that was the only explanation. Except David’s fingers were digging into her arm painfully and her stomach had turned to water.

This wasn’t a dream.

“I must say,” Regina said, almost conversationally, “I do understand now why you were so desperate for this wedding.”

Distantly, Snow became aware of the murmur of the crowd, the uncomfortable glances the peasants exchanged. This revelation of a child conceived before marriage would certainly affect her public image, but at the moment, she could not care less.

“How did you know?” Snow whispered. She hadn’t told anyone about her child, not even David.

“Oh, I have my ways.”

David let go of Snow and stepped forward, but with a twist of Regina’s hand, they both froze. Regina passed a hand over Snow's stomach, which tingled unpleasantly. “On your child’s…” Regina thought for a second. “Twenty-eighth birthday,” she continued, “they will prick their finger on a spinning needle and fall into a deep, impenetrable sleep for all eternity. There will be no escape.”

 _A deep, impenetrable sleep._  Snow's world condensed to the pounding of her heart, the echo of those words in her head.  _All eternity._  Oxygen fled her brain; sweat gathered in her palms. _There will be no escape._

Fear mingled with rage in her chest, crowding out even her guilt. She wanted to scream at Regina, wring her neck, rip her to pieces. Still, Snow knew that with no magic, she was hopelessly outmatched. So when Regina unfroze her, she fell to her knees. “No. Please, no, Regina, not my child.” 

“I like this. You, on your knees, begging me for mercy.” Regina's eyes glittered with anger. “Do it again.”

“Not my child. _Please,_ Regina, don’t _.”_ Snow hardly knew what she was saying. Words spilled from her lips without thought. “Do anything you want to me. Hurt me, kill me, I don’t care, but please, don’t do this.”

Regina crouched down in front of her. As she took in Snow's pleading expression, there was something in her eyes that had not been there before, something almost familiar.

Tenderness? Forgiveness?

“I'm sorry,” Snow whispered. “Please be more merciful than I.”

From the way Regina’s eyes hardened, it was the wrong thing to say. Snow’s heart sank. “And why should I?” Regina snarled. “No. You will have no mercy from me. And neither will your child.”

_Not my child!_

Unable to restrain herself, Snow lunged forward, reaching for Regina's throat. At the last second, Reginadisappeared in a cloud of black smoke, and Snow hit the floor. Cold stones scraped against her chin, tearing the skin. She barely felt it.

She’d failed her child. That was all that mattered.

As the crowd burst into tense conversation, David grabbed her by the shoulders and helped her up, gently wiping dirt from her face. “Whatever she has planned, we can overcome it. How powerful can she be?”

“You have _no idea_.”

“She was clearly making up that speech on the spot.” David gestured to the presents—the twenty-eight kinds of chocolate, the golden spinning wheel. “How do we know she cast a curse at all? Perhaps she was bluffing.”

“She cast it,” Snow said dully. She could feel a heaviness in her gut, a coldness that had not been there before.

David took a deep breath and put his rough, calloused hands on Snow’s shoulders. “Snow, we can defeat her. Whatever curse she cast, we can break it. We _will_ save our child. Can you believe that? Can you believe me?”

Snow saw only determination in his clear blue eyes. There was no denial, no fear. David would protect them both, those eyes told her, or he would die trying.

Slowly, she nodded. “Yes. I believe you.”

It was the first lie she had ever told her husband. As she wrapped her arms around him and he pulled her close, pressing her face into his velvet-covered shoulder, she hoped fervently that it would be the last.


End file.
